The Rose Project
by istheresuchathing
Summary: As an attempt to keep his job, journalist David Tennant takes on a brand new project. His aim, to help small time actress Rose Tyler make it onto the big screens.
1. Chapter 1

"Tennant! Get to my office now!" a harsh voice barked from the intercom in David's office. Wincing at the sharp tone, he wondered what problem Gary had with him today. His footsteps felt heavy as lead, walking to his boss' office. It wasn't usually this hard but ever since David discovered a secret security camera hidden in his office, he had been paranoid that there were more of them in the room ever since. The reason why Gary installed them there, he had no clue, but he hoped that the cameras hadn't caught him slacking off during his work hours.

David knocked on the door twice before entering without Gary's response. He plopped down in one of the chairs and smiled widely, determined not to let his anxiousness surface. "Now I'm sure you're aware of the major decrease in readers of our magazine," Gary explained formally, his eyebrows knitted together. "So I'm afraid we're gonna have to let some people go." David's heart dropped to his stomach as he realised what his boss was hinting at. Gary was going to fire him. There was no other explanation for why they were even having this conversation.

"Now when I thought about who to let go, you were one of the people I would choose to fire, with all that slacking you've taken to recently." his boss told him and David's blood ran cold. He couldn't get fired. No, he just couldn't. "But I remembered how you were also the one to score us the celebrity article we needed to get big. So I decided against it." Gary assured him, chuckling at the obvious look of relief on David's face.

"But," he began, seriousness back in his tone. "Don't think I haven't noticed the measly articles you've been producing. Half of those didn't even make it onto the final print!"

Ashamed, David remembered all those half hearted articles he had written in a hurry to get home. None of them displayed any of the passion that he had started off so strongly with. "So to make up for it, you're gonna have to work extra hard with this new project I'm handing to you." Gary said to him and slid over an impossibly thin folder. Gratefully, David thanked the man and opened up the cream folder to reveal a single page. It was a very vague and meagre profile on some small time actress, Rose Tyler. All the profile contained were references on a few films she had acted in, her birth date, and a blurry photograph of a blonde woman walking. He squinted at the grainy image but he still wasn't able to make out her face. David scanned the short profile in disbelief before turning back to Gary. "You've got to be kidding me."

Wiping his sweaty brow, Gary gave him a weak grin. "That's why we want you on this interview. You were our top journalist before it happened." David's face hardened when he realised what his boss was talking about. "Yeah I got it. I'll take this one." he replied tightly before forcing another smile on his face. "Well, thanks for this opportunity. I'll be off now to prepare. When is the interview scheduled?"

Clearly noticing the change in the journalist's mood, Gary was hesitant to bring out another piece of bad news. "Well it was originally meant to be on Thursday but her agent told us she'll be starting to shoot a short film on that day so we've been forced to reschedule." he answered uncomfortably, hand running through his thinning hair nervously. The journalist knew what this meant. His eyes narrowing, David asked for the answer to the question Gary was dreading. "When?" "Tomorrow morning," his boss blurted out, trying to assert some control into this situation. "And you'd better go or you're fired."


	2. Chapter Two

It was midnight and David was still up writing questions and researching about Rose. Sighing frustratedly, he deleted another line of text that he deemed not interesting enough. And to make matters worse, his investigation on her wasn't going much better. Her Wikipedia page was short and probably where Gary got all the information on her profile on. All David had managed to scrounge up so far were five questions and a little information on her background from an unreliable page created by her apparent 'twin sister'. Well, that and the paltry profile.

He decided to take a quick break and have some more coffee, opening an email Donna had sent him. Donna Noble was a fellow journalist and he considered her his best friend, with their similar personalities and interests. She had sent him an email with a link to a Youtube video. Curious, David clicked on it. The link led him to a video titled: 'Rose Tyler Backstage Interview' and the thumbnail was of a pretty young blonde who was standing behind a vanity mirror, smiling widely into the camera. It suddenly occurred to David that he had been so busy looking up information on her and thinking up interesting questions, that he hadn't even thought about searching up what she looked like. Well that was rather daft of him. Rolling his eyes at himself, he pressed play and began to watch.

After a few hours of watching more interviews with Rose and typing up more dull questions, David decided to call it a night and go to bed. He promised himself that he would get up a little earlier tomorrow to rewrite the questions and research some more. That didn't happen. He woke up at half past nine, thirty minutes before the scheduled interview. Quickly, he ran into the bathroom for a quick shower and threw on a navy suit that he owned before checking the time again. Four more minutes. He hurriedly brushed his teeth and combed his unkempt hair, not caring when it remained messy, before stumbling out his bedroom. He barely had time to eat a granola bar before barging out of his apartment.

Rose Tyler sat at a corner table in a small cafe on Oakland Avenue, her fingers tapping impatiently. She checked her phone again, waiting for a text from her agent or the interviewer maybe. It was ten minutes past ten and she was beginning to think the journalist wasn't going to show up. Rose was about to call her agent to make sure she had the right times when she noticed a tall, disheveled man rushing into the cafe. Upon spotting Rose, the man seemed to brighten up and began walking over. Unconsciously, she straightened up in her seat and watched the stranger approaching her. "I apologize for being late but if it's alright with you, I'd like to get started with the interview right away." David said to her politely, trying to improve her first impression of him, which was undoubtedly not very high. The interview? Rose blanked out for a moment before clearing out her daydreams. She suddenly remembered the reason why she was even here in the first place and realized that the man standing there was the interviewer. The late interviewer might she add. "Yeah, it's alright," Rose replied casually, waving a hand in dismissal. "Just don't be late next time." she warned him firmly, and the journalist relaxed into an easy grin. "So there's already going to be a next time, Ms. Tyler?" he asked slyly and she turned a light shade of pink. "Um, well, only if this interview goes badly or my agent arranges another one, you know." Rose stumbled over her words, trying to come up with a logical reason. "So Miss Tyler," David began, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Call me Rose," she said quickly. "Ms. Tyler reminds me of my mum." He chuckled. "Alright, _Rose_ , as an up-and-coming star, what would you say was the turning point in your career?" he asked, hand grasping his pen, ready to write. Rose smiled fondly, recalling a memory. "Well, I'd say that my recurring role as Kate Sweeney in the television show, Over My Head, was the one that began turning the heads of casting agents. Lucky name huh?" Quickly jotting down some notes, David immediately switched his attention back to the blonde and nodded enthusiastically. "Ironic," he replied, tone tinged with humor. "So, as a follow up on my previous question…"


End file.
